Chương 174: Chapter 169

The routes of Melemele skirted around the edge of the island, so anywhere you went on them, you always had an ocean view. Route 2 was located just north of Hau'oli City, and it curved around towards the more mountainous and barren Route 3. These parts of the island slowly shifted from populated to sparse, with only occasional signs of human settlement popping up here and there. A few isolated hotels were located on this route, as well as a lone Pokémon Center.

Outside the route itself, the few points of interest were some independently owned berry farms, a graveyard full of Ghost Types (that I purposefully avoided), as well as the cave system where the Totem Yungoos resided. As that was where trainers went through Melemele's Normal Type trial, Hope and I found ourselves encountering—and being challenged by—a decent number of beginning trainers traveling to their destination.

"Charm, Eevee."

"Trumbeak, use Pluck!" Eevee leaped to the side into a roll as a flash of red, black and white swooped down at him. Black talons grabbed at the spot where he just was as a long beak opened up to let loose a squawk of anger. I'd already convinced Eevee of the idea of never letting up, and, without my orders, he snapped his fluffy tail forward to knock the bird out of the air with Tail Whip.

"Now Tackle!" I yelled.

"You gotta use Supersonic!" Trumbeak opened its mouth, but all it let out was a harsh wheeze. Eevee was already on it, shoulder checking the bird in its stomach and knocking all of the air out of its lungs. Its small frame combined with the moment of impact sent Trumbeak hurtling through the air, but it proved itself a capable Flying Type and soon stabilized itself before circling above.

"Finish it off with Swift," I ordered. Eevee smiled, and he twisted his body in what was a clear imitation of Ilima's Eevee, to me, at least. His Swift came out a bit slower, but there were more of those glowing stars than before. With a sweep of his tail, they shot forward, and our opponent let out a gasp as the move rapidly slammed across Trumbeak's entire form. The bird fell to the ground, fainted. It was returned with a groan and a disappointed sigh.

"Aw man," my opponent, a curly-haired kid, moaned. Upon seeing his enemy defeated, Eevee's ears perked up and his tail furiously wagged. He practically jumped to turn around and dart towards me, intending to leap into my arms. Now more than familiar with this habit, I was able to properly brace myself for the incoming impact, catching Eevee out of the air and moving into a spin. He purred his name and pressed his head into my arms. I smoothed out the sections of his fur that were ruffled by the battle.

At my side, Azumarill let out a "tch," unimpressed. Eevee stuck his tongue out while she rolled her eyes.

"Good battle," I said to Eevee before looking up.

"And for you, Trumbeak is decently fast, but that speed doesn't mean much if your orders come out slow and if it doesn't have any prepared and practiced reactions. I recommend working on changing directions in the air and dodging unexpected moves as a start. You have another Pokémon, right?"

"Yeah! Metapod! But I can't really battle with him 'till he evolves."

"Butterfree will still be a great training partner eventually. String Shot is a good move to practice to help Trumbeak avoid attacks in the air." The kid nodded his head with a sparkle in his eye as I walked up to shake his hand. The moment I pulled back, he shouted a cheerful "Thank you!" before running off towards the Pokémon Center, located not too far away.

"That was interesting," Hope said.

"Yeah. I didn't realize trainers as young as him took on the island challenge." The boy I fought was barely even ten—younger than the youngest child who had received their starters at the recent ceremony. I had asked him about it before we fought, basically saying "Aren't you a little young to be a Pokémon trainer?" when he ran up to us with a challenge. Turns out, some kids did partial runs of the Island Challenge before they took it on for real.

He was basically sticking to Melemele, where he lived, and this gave him a chance to familiarize himself with his team and train them up before he pushed for the top.

"Should we continue with Azumarill now?" Hope asked. I nodded.

"For sure." I had a few current goals to work on with my team. The first was obvious enough: Togepi, Eevee, and Tinkatink all needed to get stronger. In Tinkatink's case, she was likely a day or two away from evolving. However, I couldn't neglect the rest of our team, as we had a challenge against the Sinnoh League coming up. General practice had kept my team in shape, and now that we had a Z-Ring, figuring out which Z-Moves to focus on to improve our arsenal would be for the best.

I was working with Azumaril in particular to see if I could add a bit more trickery to her moveset. She was all about power; any form of deception came from either her usage of Splash or the occasional Swagger. Azumarill was a physical attacker through and through, which made her properly specialized, but it was still a specialty that could be countered.

"We'll do Z-Swagger this time. Are you ready?" Azumarill nodded, then she braced herself as Hope sent out her Vileplume. After explaining our plan, the core of the Pokémon's flower bubbled with dripping orange that was soon launched out to hit Azumarill right in her chest. Acid was a super effective move, but Azumarill didn't dodge; she grit her teeth and took the attack head on.

The Acid sunk into her chest and weakened her outermost layer of skin, essentially lowering her defenses and weakening how well she could move around. It looked painful, but Azumarill specifically requested to do something like this. While Misty Terrain generally countered poison, this practice served as a dual-purpose training since it helped her deal with a weakness, too. For Z-Swagger, however, our true goal was to test the move under the effect of the defense drop.

"That's enough, Vileplume," Hope said. Vileplume stopped spurting out Acid, and I released Eevee from my arms. He hopped away to sit on the side, cocking his head to the side in interest. I turned back to where Azumarill was breathing heavily.

"Ready Azumarill?" She nodded her head through a grimace. A paw touched her raw chest. That should get better in a second.

"Now! Z-Swagger!" Hope was right when she said Z-moves drained energy, but it felt even more obvious to me that it wasn't the same as Mega Evolution. It felt like the difference between running a mile and staying up extremely late. I could see myself using many Z-Moves in a day, but I couldn't see myself abusing Mega Evolution too often. As the energy drain picked up, I had to purposefully move my body to direct the energies of the move.

The Z-Crystal was the origin as well as a catalyst, and the "dance" drew the reaction into the correct form. For Normal Type Z-Moves like Z-Swagger, the process was pretty simple. I just had to throw my arms down to my right, pressing my wrists together, then I pulled them back into a "Z," where one arm was crossed over my face while the other was crossed over my stomach. The energy felt almost like a caffeine rush, if a caffeine rush moved.

It didn't last long, and once it was over, I felt a tiredness as if I had stayed up for a day straight. Azumarill, however, glowed. The energy from the crystal infused her, and she held out her hand. With a smirk, she flexed, making a "come at me" motion towards Vileplume. The Grass Type puffed itself up in anger then threw itself forward at Azumarill. Normally, Azumarill should have been under the effects of Acid. The move should have still been lowering her defense.

But, with the added energy affecting her, the reduction had been completely negated, and she was back at her full capabilities. Swagger made Vileplume angry and confused, which caused it to send a rush of pink petals swirling Azumarill's way. Just like the Acid before, Azumarill didn't dodge the attack. With Sap Sipper, the attack was effectively worthless since she was able to absorb any damaging energy to buff herself up instead.

After a few seconds, Vileplume came back to its senses, and it looked around, blinking.

"Impressive. What are your thoughts on that one, Alex?" Hope asked. I glanced over to Azumarill, who was swinging her arms back and forth as if this had just been a warm up. Nearby, Eevee was only half paying attention, now curled up on the ground.

"It's definitely useful, but it's rather niche. I can see Z-Swagger acting as a good way to counter anyone who tries to weaken Azumarill since it cancels out any weakening moves used on her. But, Z-Splash is still probably better, since it's a fast and safe way to increase her physical power, and we can only use one Z-Move per battle." Hope hummed and pointed out "Belly Drum." I brought up a hand and wiggled it back and forth.

"Maybe. Z-Belly Drum restored her to full health when we used it, but it still hurt her directly after. I can see it being useful if we wait to use Z-Belly Drum in the middle of the match, but we could also just use the normal move at the very start."

"And what about your Fairy Z-Crystal?" I grimaced. Truthfully, I should have been trying out Fairy Type Z-Moves given my specialty. Z-Misty Terrain increased special defense, and I knew Z-Charm was incredibly useful as it increased the user's defense. However, it felt wrong, for some reason, to start working on it now. I wanted to have a better grasp on how Z-Moves worked before shifting into Fairy Type Z-Moves or at least save it for an important battle.

"We'll figure something out," I said.

"We have time until we take on Sinnoh's Elite Four. Do you want to practice your Grass Type Z-Moves now?" Hope nodded, grinning as she did. Just like what had happened with Petal Blizzard before, Azumarill was the perfect target for Grass Type moves, as she was immune to their damage. Also, Splash let her more easily dodge, so it helped Hope practice her aim and Azumarill practice her evasion. Hope managed to get out two Z-Moves back to back before she practically collapsed on the ground.

The side of the Route we were on was now covered in newly grown flowers, and Azumarill was rumbling from the absorbed energy. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Got another one in you?" I asked. Hope shook her head.

"Not right now. I'm way too tired. Maybe in a little—" A flash. A Pokémon released themself from a ball. Rapidash suddenly appeared next to me, but instead of paying attention, he was staring pointedly to the south.

"Rapidash?" He whinnied, then he stomped in place to signal something wrong was going on. Hope and I exchanged one look before rapidly returning our Pokémon and darting off after Rapidash, who took off in a gallop.

"What is it? The Aether Foundation? A wild Ultra Beast?" Rapidash shook his head for both. That narrowed things down in my mind. Knowing what "threats" lurked in Alola, there was only one thing it could be: The gang, Team Skull. Alola had a small berry plantation down here, owned by locals and shipped across the region. It was open to the public, allowing visitors to come in and pick their own berries for a small sum.

Even now, I could see people between the rows of the trees, shaking them or being lifted up by their Pokémon to collect some berries. However, the total population had significantly reduced, and instead, a small scene was happening at the edge.

"Huh," Hope whispered. A group of four was currently standing off, but my eyes were on three of them in particular. They were dressed in black tank-tops with a skull-and-crossbones motif on them, and they wore black bandanas to cover their mouths. Also, their heads were covered with what was literally a skullcap, where two black circles resembling sockets stared out from their forehead. These were Team Skull grunts—at the lowest level, judging from the Pokémon they had sent out.

A few weak, barely disciplined Pokémon stood between them and their unfortunate victim. Looking over them, I quickly identified a Salandit, Zubat, and Yungoos lowering their heads to menace, their trainers looking forward in just as much of an implied threat. Between the rapid flashing of gang signs and rhythmic shifting of gang members' arms, I was able to make out the person who they were bothering.

"Is that Whimsicott?" Hope asked.

"Yeah," I said, frowning.

"And that's Lillie cornered by the group." Lillie was clutching the strap of her bag with both arms as she took a cautious step back. She was at least making eye contact with her foes, but she was clearly nervous, with her gaze repeatedly flicking between her foes. If it wasn't for the trees of the plantation blocking her path, she would have had a viable escape route. Instead, a group of much older teens were harassing her, using their Pokémon as a threat.

"Why isn't Whimsicott helping?" I asked. I started to move forward to approach, but Hope held out her arm. To my surprise, Rapidash wasn't moving either.

"No, Alex," Hope said.

"What?"

"We can't solve all of her problems. She needs to learn how to defend herself. Plus, look how weak those Pokémon are. She said she wanted to protect Nebby. Let her learn how." My frown deepened, and I looked closer. Those three grunts standing before her weren't just weak, they were extremely weak. Pathetic, if I wanted to be cruel. Based on the relative lack of muscle in their Pokémon, I could tell that Eevee could take them all on by himself. Hope had a point that I couldn't just barge in.

While doing so was technically my job, this was a perfect opportunity for Lillie to learn to fight back against thugs. It wouldn't do her good to "save" her in a match she could win on her own.

"We'll sit back and wait," I said.

"But I'm moving in at the first sign of trouble."

"Or..." Hope started.

"We move in anyway to hear what they're saying, but we'll hide behind trees. They don't have to know we're here, and this way we'll get to watch." She took my reluctant roll of my eyes as an approval and started to stealthily move forward. I followed, sticking to spots behind trees, and Rapidash easily came with us as well. There were times I forgot that Rapidash wasn't just a horse—he was a unicorn. His species naturally lived in dense forests, so moving around past these sparse trees wasn't difficult for him.

Not only that, but even with his pastel-colored hair and brilliant white body, he barely stood out. Some kind of unconscious, natural camouflage? He wasn't doing much outside of just walking forward. I had to wonder if it was some kind of Psychic Type trick helping him stay hidden. My silent musings aside, we soon reached a thick berry tree located not too far away from Lillie, where our small group hunkered down and listened in.

"So, what'll it be, girlie? You gonna show us what's in the bag, or are we gonna fight?" one of the grunts said. There were three thugs in front of Lillie—two guys, one girl. The tallest of the two guys had his hair dyed blue and an uncomfortably thin body, while the other guy was shorter and stockier with a mess of brown sticking out of his skullcap. The sole girl in their group had died her hair pink, but she only seemed half interested in what was going on.

At the grunt's threatening words, Lillie took another step back. One of the Pokémon present—the poisonous lizard, Salandit—snapped its jaws at her in threat. A gasp left her throat as she looked around even more desperately than before.

"C'mon Lillie, fight!" Hope whispered. Lillie stumbled on an exposed root in the road, and the heavier Team Skull member laughed. Face contorting, red with anger, Lillie finally reached down into her bag, where she drew out a Pokéball marked with a water droplet. The three grunts and their Pokémon paused.

"B-back off! Or I'll be forced to send out my Pokémon!" Lillie held her Pokéball forward to meet the thugs' threat with a threat of her own. Hope murmured some encouraging words under her breath, but they were too quiet to reach anything but her own ears. As the scene continued to unfold, the lead, blue-haired grunt eventually boldly strode forward, moving a step closer and motioning for his two friends to take a step back.

"A battle? Looks like you're finally speaking our language. Come on, then! One-on-one! I'll show you not to mess with Team Skull!" I blinked. But Team Skull was the one to mess with her? Unaware of my confusion, Lillie hurriedly sent out her Pokémon, and Popplio appeared on the ground.

"A Popplio?" the grunt said.

"Psh. You're just a newbie. This'll be no problem at all. Salandit, take it out with Scratch!" The red-striped lizard dropped to all fours as its blackened mouth curled up into a grin. It scurried forward with its tail flicking forward, and Lillie yelped as it reached Popplio in a second. Popplio braced herself, and the Scratch tore down her front. I could see the bag shake at Lillie's side as Nebby fought to get out.

"Water Gun! Please!" Lillie yelled. Popplio's mouth opened up to form a sharp stream of water that blasted forward. Salandit tried to shift out of the way, but Popplio easily turned her head to catch it right in its chest. It wailed from the damage, as the Fire Type Salandit was especially vulnerable to Water Type, and it hopped backwards to make some distance out of fear of a follow-up attack.

"Tch. So you know our weakness? Whatever. Salandit! Poison Gas!" The grin returned to Salandit's face as it breathed out a cloud of purple poison gas. It didn't reach Popplio immediately, instead slowly drifting forward in a rather avoidable cloud. Lillie didn't tell her Pokémon to dodge, and Hope and I practically clicked our tongues in unison. She shouted for "Pound," and Popplio ran straight through the cloud, hitting the Salandit but breathing in the gas as a result. The grunts laughed.

"Look at her! She's just letting her Pokémon get poisoned!" the other male grunt yelled. But, Popplio didn't let her condition get to her, and Salandit's eyes went wide as a second fin suddenly smacked it against its face for a second Pound.

"Again!" Lillie ordered. The proceeding exchange looked more like a Double-Slap than a series of independent uses of Pound. The Team Skull grunt called for Ember, but Salandit wasn't able to form the move in its mouth before another slap threw its aim off. The laughter from before faded when Salandit was finally knocked out from the rapid-fire injuries. The lead Team Skull grunt growled, his Pokémon rendered unconscious, and he returned it and stepped back.

"Yes! You go, Lillie!" Hope whispered sharply. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like this was the end, and the pink-haired grunt moved up.

"This is taking too long. I'll finish it off," she said.

"Zubat, head forward and use Leech Life. Drain it 'till it's all out." The problem here was that Popplio was poisoned, so when Zubat latched on, she started to deal with two different sources of damage. The Water Type did its best to hang on, but it was clear the compounding effects were going to knock it out soon. I started to get up—Lillie didn't have any more Pokémon that could fight—but when I glanced Hope's way to tell her I was moving in, I saw she was staring even more intently.

Ahead, Lillie's eyes suddenly sparkled with a realization.

"Disarming Voice! Just like we saw the other day!" Popplio yelled, and Zubat reflexively let go. Pink, Fairy Type sound waves filled the air, and the inherently blind Zubat seemed to be especially vulnerable to the noise. Seeing her use the move, I couldn't help it. I shook Hope's arm in excitement.

"Look. Look! She's using the move! I taught everyone that in the lecture!" Hope held back a laugh.

"I can see that, Alex." With Zubat off of Popplio's body, the frail Pokémon was now much more vulnerable to attacks. It swooped down to try to latch on again, but a Water Gun sniped it out of a dive. Zubat ended up falling to the ground, too injured to keep fighting.

"Wha-? Zubat!" The pink-haired grunt scooped up her Pokémon with a pained expression on her face, then her head snapped up to glare at Lillie. However, that expression relaxed into one of amusement as Popplio wobbled in place before falling to the ground, succumbing to her poison.

"Looks like we traded knockouts, then?" Lillie's gaze hardened as the stocky Team Skull member stepped forward, his Yungoos falling in line. He cracked his knuckles to show how casual he was about this, and Lillie returned her Popplio.

"You got any more Pokémon?" he asked.

"Or are you finally going to show us what's in your bag?" Lillie's bag shook harder, and she reached down to grab it. Another yelp left her mouth as its zipper broke open, and then Nebby pushed out to move onto the field. The three Team Skull grunts blinked in unison. Hope and I let out a curse. Nebby might be brave, but the Pokémon didn't know any attacking moves. Faintly, I recalled it could only ever learn Teleport and Splash. Thankfully, none of the grunts moved in, with even the Yungoos looking surprised.

I didn't blame them; I doubted they knew what a Cosmog was. The sole member of their trio that had a conscious Pokémon seemed like he didn't want to approach.

"The heck is that?"

"Dunno, but it looks rare."" That's what was in the bag? What even is it? Do we still fight, or do we head off?" The grunts suddenly hopped back to huddle, trying to discuss what was going on. I couldn't hear much, but from the occasional loud word, I could tell they'd likely continue the fight.

"I think we move in, Alex," Hope said.

"Wait." This time, it was my turn to hold her back.

"Actually, I think this is the perfect situation for Lillie to learn something new about her Pokémon." Hope gave me a strange look, and I easily replied with a confident smile. Turning behind me, I asked Rapidash to call Whimsicott over, and as the flying Grass Type ducked down to be with us in the bushes, surprised, I explained to him my plan.

"Alright, kid, we're continuing the match. You're good to go, right?" Lillie blinked, and the blue-haired Team Skull grunt hit the stocky one who had just spoken in the shoulder.

"Don't ask her if she's okay! We're supposed to be threatening!"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Then, uh, prepare to lose, loser!" The apparent leader smacked his own face, and suddenly the group seemed a lot less threatening. That didn't mean much for this upcoming battle, though, as the Yungoos stepped forward, and Lillie clenched her fists. To Lillie, when it came to the previous Salandit, the sharp teeth and cruel jaws weren't as scary as it could have been. Sharp teeth were natural for most reptilian Pokémon, after all.

Yungoos, however, looked cute on the surface, but when it opened its mouth, it revealed a maw that fit on a predator. Lillie knew how Nebby fought: he didn't. Nebby was weak in basically all categories, and he couldn't really take any hits. The only move worth using was Teleport, and that was only useful for repositioning and escape.

"Yungoos! Bite!" the last remaining grunt yelled. Lillie flinched, but she was still able to call for a "Teleport!" in time. At her command, Nebby disappeared for a moment only to reappear behind the leaping Normal Type. Yungoos looked around rapidly before jerking its head around and letting its eyes settle on Nebby's position behind it. Despite his extreme disadvantage, Nebby's expression was hard—it was clear he wasn't going to back down. What do I do? Nebby can't fight!

Lillie found her breath coming to her quicker. She didn't have any options. Then, a movement. Something white flashed in the air. Above, Whimsicott appeared, the Pokémon meant to protect her, but instead of fighting off her opponents, he started to bounce around above the head of her foes.

"What?" Lillie mumbled. As she questioned Whimsicott's movements, Lillie watched the Yungoos act again. It leaped, and, Lillie was forced to call for another Teleport. Nebby was able to dodge once more, but the issue was that Teleport took more energy than any of Yungoos's bites. Even though the amount of energy contained within Nebby far surpassed any common Pokémon, there was still a chance that he would become tired before Yungoos did.

Without being able to attack, this was a battle of attrition, one that Lillie wasn't certain Nebby would win. Lillie continued to watch the proceeding battle as Whimsicott continued to bounce around in the air, and her own orders faded away as Nebby got a handle of when to Teleport. While the focus in his eyes wasn't fading, his cosmic puffs started to droop, and his reaction speed started to flag. Desperate, Lillie turned back to Whimsicott and looked closer at his movements.

They were random, hopping movements that stayed above the grunts' heads, positioned so only Lillie could see. I don't get what he's doing. Whimsicott is hopping around, but why? Is he trying to tell us to use a move? Nebby only knows Teleport and Splash. I don't get how Nebby can— Oh. Oh! I see.

"Nebby! Use Splash to dodge!"

"Splash to dodge? What kind of ridiculous strategy is that?! You're gonna lose, kid!" It made sense to Lillie why Whimsicott was telling her this. He was on a team where a Pokémon frequently used the same strategy. Splash was one of the most basic moves, even more basic than Tackle. It took practically no energy at all, and while Nebby was getting worn out, Splash wouldn't require him to use any significant energy at all. This time, when Yungoos lunged, Nebby let himself drop and bounced off the ground.

A Bite snapped into the air, and Yungoos skidded to a halt.

"Do it again, and keep it up!" Lillie called out. The battle evolved from what was a poor imitation of whack-a-mole to a game of cat and mouse. Nebby hopped around like a rather energetic Magikarp, and Yungoos failed to land even a single attack. There were a few close calls, a graze here and there, but Nebby had a smile on his face as his opponent failed to do anything in this match.

Slowly, Lillie gained a similar smile on her face, and she found herself laughing at the sheer level of ridiculousness of this situation. After seeing Nebby avoid his opponent so easily through hopping, it was hard to take these grunts seriously.

"Stop laughing at me!" the grunt yelled.

"Ugh! Yungoos, get to it and go for a Take Down!" Lillie, no longer panicking, smiled, and she pointed towards a tree.

"I believe in you, Nebby," she said, her voice perfectly calm. The smile Nebby returned was brilliant, and he hopped towards the direction she pointed. Yungoos gave chase, picking up speed, and it jumped headfirst into the air.

"Now! Teleport!" Nebby flashed away, dodging Yungoos's attack once more. However, this time, it didn't land on the ground, and Yungoos actually landed its attack—except it had done so by faceplanting into a tree. Lillie laughed. Nebby laughed. The bushes not too far away laughed, but then they went silent when Lillie sent them a suspicious look. Yungoos stood up, wobbling in place, but then it fell to the ground, unconscious, after one last Bite that only hit the air in front of its face.

The clearing was silent outside of Lillie's fading giggles. Nebby hopped through the air to enter Lillie's arms, and she swung him around in joy.

"Did you just... Did you just lose to a Pokémon that didn't attack?" the pink-haired grunt mumbled.

"No, I, uh—""Argh!" The blue-haired trainer screamed and ripped off his skullcap. His hands rapidly scratched the side of his head as he continued his tortured yells.

"You... you!" His teeth ground together as his two friends stepped back, almost scared.

"Just wait till we tell big sis about this. She won't let you go!"

"Then go tell her," Lillie said.

"I'll beat her, too! And stop picking on people half your size!" He yelled again before snatching his discarded hat and stomping off. The other two grunts stared at the leaving Team Skull grunt before they seemed to remember that they were supposed to stay by his side. The sole girl in the group shrugged then waved to Lillie before walking away, but the stockier guy just slumped and walked off in defeat. Lillie laughed again; she had to express the feeling of pure elation in her chest.

"Oh, Nebby! We did it! We managed to win against Team Skull!" In her arms, Nebby made pleased noises, then Lillie felt something tap her on her head. Whimsicott was there, floating not too far away. He pointed out towards the edge of the grove, then he pointed at Popplio's water-marked Pokéball. It took no time at all for Lillie to make the connection, and she blushed at the thought she had missed something so important.

"Yeah, we need to get Popplio to the Pokémon Center, right?" With Nebby still in her arms, Lillie began to walk off the berry farm, unaware of the proud looks and silent cheering coming from the foliage not too far away.